Design Shanghai 2024 Review: Nature-Inspired Design Leading the Future of Office Furniture

From June 19 to 22, 2024, the much-anticipated Asian design event "Design Shanghai" was grandly held at the Shanghai World Expo Exhibition and Convention Center. At this fair, Yihang presented the theme "Zero Deep Sees Deer · Wisdom Opens Mountains and Seas," showcasing its forward-looking design philosophy that gives equal weight to health and technology, along with its brand aspiration of "bringing nature into the office." Through this exhibition, Yihang not only displayed its distinctive office furniture design but also showed visitors how design can reshape office spaces to create a more flexible, empathetic, collaborative, and innovative work experience.

1. Nature woven into design, creating a native-feel office space

Yihang's booth design skillfully blended ocean blue with warm wood finishes and a slowly rising sunrise emblem, creating a natural scene reminiscent of mountains and seas. This design let visitors feel the beauty of nature while expressing Yihang's pursuit of a native, organic feeling in the office environment. Yihang integrates natural elements into its office furniture design and, through cutting-edge design concepts and technology, creates comfortable, healthy, formaldehyde-free office environments — allowing employees to spark creativity in nature's embrace and achieve a harmonious coexistence of work and life.

2. Environmental innovation: circular design supporting ecological balance

Yihang has long been committed to promoting ecological balance through design. At the fair, Yihang presented its distinctive circular design philosophy. Years ago, Zhang Xujun, General Manager of the Yihang Research Institute, proposed recycling discarded ocean fishing nets, ropes, and similar waste into materials for furniture manufacturing. The idea won an enthusiastic response from the Swiss B4K studio, and the two parties jointly developed Hafu — an air-cushion seated health chair made from an eco-friendly base material of ocean-recycled plastic. The chair is not only environmentally friendly but also comfortable to sit in, and has been widely praised.

In addition, Yihang joined forces with the polymer manufacturer Covestro to create the "Xinshengdai" (Reborn Indigo) chair. Built on circular design principles, this chair uses innovative technology to transform recycled materials into high-quality furniture materials, fully demonstrating Yihang's commitment to environmental protection and sustainable development.

3. Leading the future: office furniture that sparks inspiration

With its leading concepts and design, Yihang keeps launching innovative office furniture products. At the fair, Yihang displayed a range of forward-looking pieces, such as the UP7 smart standing desk, the Youran series lounge chairs, the Motor, the Bolisi series seating, and more. These products are not only stylish in appearance and practical in function but have also won multiple patents and can meet the needs of different customers. Through these products, Yihang hopes to bring furniture and design lovers a space experience that sparks even more inspiration — a perfect collision of nature and technology in the office.

Looking ahead, Yihang will continue to uphold its "people-oriented" design philosophy, with health, environmental protection, and technology at its core, providing customers around the world with high-quality office furniture products and solutions. Yihang hopes that through its efforts, it can bring more innovation and transformation to office environments worldwide.